How House of the Dragon Will Impact Other Game of Thrones Spinoffs

There have been several Game of Thrones spinoffs in the works since the original series ended. Some have barely gotten off the ground or been scrapped entirely, but others, like House of the Dragon have continued to build on the visual world inspired by George R.R. Martin’s work. With A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms the only other spinoff currently in production, and the first occurrence of multiple Game of Thrones series being in production at the same time, there’s some question as to how much the shows will connect with each other beyond their shared Westerosi history.

Will there be any crossovers? How much will one series’ depiction of an event influence how another perceives it? Are these shows in conversation with each other, or separate entities entirely?

According to House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal, there aren’t any plans for a direct crossover between the two series. Partially because A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms happens “many years” in the future, but also because they want the freedom to “adapt [House of the Dragon] as we adapt it and make the inventions that we need to make.”

At the same time though, Condal told Den of Geek during a press roundtable that they don’t want to cause “large ripple effects” either that might prevent someone from “telling the Blackfyre Rebellion story, or whatever they want to do in the future, or, you know, eventually telling the story of Robert’s Rebellion if that’s a place where HBO wants to go to dramatically.”

Condal says that he’s in “regular communication” with Ira Parker, the creator of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and that even though there’s no “direct crossover” between the series, that there is a “sort of generational inter-linkage” between House of the Dragon and this series.

Both series see Targaryens in power, at varying degrees, so naturally, the events of House of the Dragon are going to have an impact on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and any other spinoffs set after. But it doesn’t seem like there are currently any plans for the series or any others to crossover with House of the Dragon beyond that. 

The other Game of Thrones spinoffs, currently in the development stage, are all prequels to House of the Dragon. The Sea Snake, an animated series following Corlys Velaryon’s legendary Nine Voyages. Aegon’s Conquest, the story of Aegon the Conqueror. And Ten Thousand Ships, a series set 1,000 years before Game of Thrones that follows Princess Nymeria, the founder of Dorne and ancestor to House Martell.

In a world full of crossovers and spinoffs that require you to watch hours upon hours of content in order to understand the story, it’s a little refreshing to hear that these shows are in conversation with each other rather than intimately interwoven. Obviously, the overall story of Westeros is going to be richer the more you watch, but each series seems to be set up as a snapshot of a certain point in history that can be watched individually or in tandem.